Rupture Cutters with High Penetration Utility

Abstract

A cutting element design that includes a base portion designed to be brazed, pressed or otherwise attached into a drill bit or reaming tool where the design of the cutting element is such that forward drilling force is concentrated in a small area to improve piercement of and/or impingement into the rock to enhance shear and rupture when the element is rotated into the rock on a drill bit. The cutting element is further enabled by the use of a thick, unitary hardened surface coating on an everted working surface to dissipate heat.

1 ) A method of improving drilling rates for oil and gas borehole drilling in which tapered cutting elements are substituted for one or more standard cutting elements, and in which said tapered cutting elements are designed to improve the penetration forces into rock formation by at least 20% over standard cutter designs. 
     
     
         2 ) The method of  claim 1  in which the use of one or more tapered cutting elements allows the reduction of weight on bit with little or no loss of cutting efficiency. 
     
     
         3 ) The method of  claim 1  in which the use of one or more tapered cutting elements allows a higher rate of drill bit penetration with little or no loss of drill bit stability. 
     
     
         4 ) A fixed cutter for earth drilling and boring, the cutter comprising: a substrate end for mounting in a drill bit or reaming tool, said substrate having a periphery, an end surface and a longitudinal axis extending through said end surface; and an everted, non-planar working surface opposite the mounting end which contains a shape that is reduced in diameter relative to the mounting end by at least 20%, and designed primarily to concentrate any force applied to the mounting end, via the longitudinal axis, to a smaller area relative to the mounting end; said working surface is disposed with a circumferential ultra hard material layer, wherein the ultra hard material layer is applied or disposed such that it forms a surface more than degrees in circumference on the periphery relative to the longitudinal axis. 
     
     
         5 ) The cutting element of  claim 4  in which the penetration forces imparted by said cutting element is at least 20% greater than the penetration forces imparted by a standard cutter known in the industry. 
     
     
         6 ) The cutting element of  claim 4  in which said cutter is positioned such that it is the primary penetrating element into the rock formation when the drill bit is lowered to the bottom of the hole, concentrating the bit drilling weight into highly focused areas prior to initiation of rotational forces and shearing of the rock. 
     
     
         7 ) The cutting element of  claim 4  in which said cutter positioned in offset position relative to traditional planar working surface cutters and semi-planar working surface cutters to initiate rupture of the desired rock to weaken it prior to the traditional shearing effect seen with planar and semi-planar cutters. 
     
     
         8 ) The cutting element of  claim 4 , in which the everted surface coating of the cutting element effectively dissipates heat from the cutting element during drilling operations.